I am all packed up and ready to go to Idaho for Thanksgiving, or jet-set as I like to say...I don't know where I got that...

Anyways, I am super stoked. Seriously. I am. And I should be decorating the house for Christmas so that it will look all nice when I get back home but Zeke is taking a late nap and I don't want the noise in the closet to wake him. We where at Kait's a bit too long today probably, oh well, it happens. And it was worth it because Molly, Zeke's girlfriend and also Kait's daughter, gave him a big fat kiss. Seriously people, we didn't even tell her to! She did it of her own accord. I am glad they are listening to their mommies and falling in love but a little worried at how young they are doing it. Maybe those two should slow down!

PS Haha Kaitie, I blogged it first!

Also, as many of you know, because this comes up surprisingly often, Josh and I decided not to give Ezekiel a circumcision when he was born. We had many reasons for this decision and did a LOT of research, and we haven't regretted it for a second. Quickly put we just felt that the medical reasons to circumsize didn't really hold (and neither did the medical reasons to NOT circumsize), I knew from experience with other small boys that it wasn't "dirtier" or harder to clean, and neither of us wanted to do something, especially a painful surgery, just because everyone else does it. Not that everyone else does, I was surprised to find out how many of my friend's children aren't these days.

Anyways, I wasn't actually planning on getting into that decision or my reasons for it although I'm happy to discuss it with any of you. What I wanted to segue into was this reply to one of my ulitmate fav. blogs/bloggers and hero about this same subject. I never thought of it this way and found it so interesting.

...Something that I didn't see brought up on your comments was female circumcision (FGM) [I am fairly certain this stands for Female Genital Mutilation, am I correct?]. This practice is common all over the world. There are varying types I through III. Type III includes removal of clitoris, labia minora and majora, then sewing the vaginal opening, leaving a very small opening the size of a matchstick. I have assisted in delivering babies from women with type III circumcisions, and it was not pretty. Not to mention all of the other health problems it causes. We lived in a city that was predominately Somali. The State Department sites that 90% of Somali women have been circuited and that 80% of these circumcisions were Type III. I have spoken with many Somali women about their circumcisions over the past 5 years. They cite reasons such as, "girls will become prostitutes if we don't stop their sexual drive", "if you don't cut the clitoris it will keep growing until it's hanging down between their legs". It has also become a convenient way for women to prove their virginity before getting married. It's interesting to note that it is the older women who keep this tradition going and the #1 reason for circumcising is simple to them.... "It's the most beautiful". It's how they look, and they want their daughters to look the same. [I find this such a frightening parallel to male circumcision in the U.S.: circumcising boys without their consent because it is the way their fathers look and it is the most "beautiful" (or normal, or acceptable, or common, or least different, or usual) way for boys to look in this country. Should that alone be reason to continue this practice in our country?? Should that be a reason to continue FGM of girls in other countries!?]

This really got me thinking about my cosmetic reasons for wanting to circumcise my son, and how dangerous that line of thinking can become. [I believe that "line of thinking" has perhaps become a trap for American parents regarding male circumcision as well.] Somali women would even suggest that because we circumcise our males, it should be fine for them to circumcise females. Although there is no comparison to the degree of mutilation that it causes, I am happy to be able to report to them that we haven't circumcised any of our children, male or female. [Certainly male circumcision is much less extreme than the female circumcision spoken of here. However, regardless of the difference in extremes, I drew a huge parallel between these two and the reasons both have been carried out as long as they have.]

I of course dont want you to think that Im suggesting any of you with circumsized boys have mutilated them, or even that circumcision is a bad choice. Your choice, as long as you chose it, is the right choice, if that makes sense. I just found this so interesting that I had to share.

Zeke will be crawling any day now. Seriously. Josh and I's bet (Josh-before Thanksgiving; me-after) will be a close one. 8 days to go.

In other news, and this might be TMI and if so, too bad, but Ezekiel has not pooped in 1 week tomorrow. At first I thought it was just because he ate a WHOLE banana Thursday night. But now I'm getting a little concerned. I tried to feed him applesauce a couple days ago to get things going but he didn't like it. So then I tried some watered down apple juice this morning...his first juice experience. It also didn't go well. He found the apple juice in the bottle insulting or something, he wouldn't take it. So then at the grocery store I bought a tippy cup. Well he's not really ready for it yet I don't think (nor did I really expect him to be). He LOVED chewing on it and playing with it, and he even held it really well and got it into his mouth. But he wouldn't suck. And so I tried removing the little thingy that keeps it from spilling so it would dribble into his mouth. He probably got 2 ounces all over himself and 1 in his mouth...if I'm lucky... So now we are going to try pear for dinner. The taste wont be as strong as apple, I think, so maybe he will like it. And I think if he doesn't poop tomorrow I will call Dr Morgan because I am out of ideas! Any one have any?

One thing is for sure. Zeke is only allowed a half banana at a time from now on!

Also, look at Zeke's adorable hair! I bought him some product, its called Surf Hair or something like that, lol. I also cut two little sections that have been driving me insane. They were WAY longer then everything else.

Ezekiel has decided he is old enough to feed himself. He used to be content with just holding an empty spoon while I fed him. But now he wants to dip his spoon in the food too, so we gave it a go last night (on Daddy's bath night...heehee). He did surprisingly well, he got well over half of it into his mouth. Still WAY messier then when mommy does it, though. So maybe this will only be a weekend, daddy bath day, treat...Josh and I also watched Kung Foo Panda last night. Zeke thought it was sooo funny. He's always watched the TV when we watch before but this is the first time he reacted to it at all. It's also the first time we ever watched a cartoon, so that may be related. He was laughing and laughing at the Panda, however. Cracking us up for sure. Then after the first 5 or so minutes he lost interest and fell asleep. Score.

Zeke is suddenly very interested in toys. Not only in the old classic sense of loving to hold things and put them in his mouth, either. He is beginning to play for the first time. Right now his favorite game is knocking down towers. Josh and I build them out of stacking cups or the little blocks Kait gave him (thanks Kait!). But he has also shown interest in flipping the pages of his board books, and rolling cars back and forth. He LOVES cars and especially wheels. Its ridiculous. Cars and knocking things down...sounds like a boy to me, at least he's got an interest in books too.

With this new love of toys is also a startling new ability to make messes! My son, who cant crawl yet I might add, is still somehow able to make his way across the blanket to his toy basket, flip it over, and spread it everywhere in the time it takes me to go to the bathroom. Evidence: below.Actually with a combination of rolling and "catterpillaring" as Josh and I have named it (he lifts his but waaay in the air and then stretches out) he can very slowly make his way towards whatever he wants. This was annoying at my mindful mothers meeting yesterday because what he wanted was a little girl's coloring book and NOTHING was distracting him. He is stubborn, my son.

We also bought him a very cool toy with some money that Josh's aunt Deb sent us, to encourage him to sit up more. It sort of works. He will sit maybe 10 minutes which is longer then he ever has allowed before. Zeke's refusal to sit drives me bonkers, in case you haven't noticed. I don't know why. I've accepted his constant "serious" or "concerned" or "concentrating" (depending on who you ask) face and the fact that he rarely smiles in front of anyone but Josh and I. I've accepted that other than the "dada" he gives us every few days he doesn't babble at all. My son is almost always silent unless annoyed and I haven't even jumped to a premature diagnosis of autism (even though its been suggested, ridiculous). I have shrugged my shoulders and said that he's slightly behind socially and probably just shy. Yet this not sitting this gets to me. Maybe because he's always been so ahead physically before? Who knows. But its become a fight and therefor we picked a toy that would necessitate sitting to play with.

Other than that no Ezekiel news really. I guess a slight cough but honestly Josh and I are wondering if he is faking it. It's really shallow, like he's clearing his throat and he seems to cough the most when he is bored and we are ignoring him... It might be imitation because he's heard other's coughing recently. Then again he might also have caught the cough. Who knows.

Today (since Zeke has a cough and therefor cannot go to any playdates for fear of spreading possible infections) I cleaned out Ezekiel's closet.

I took all the clothes that don't fit him, from the ridiculously small newborn outfits to the 6 month shirts that I decided just yesterday were showing a bit too much stomach and folded them all nicely, placed them into a plastic tub, and then carried them down to our storage closet. And as a sign that my emotional roller-coastering is over (for a while at least), I didn't even tear up. Yes, the unemotional, totally sarcastic Courtney is back. The Courtney that laughed at her moist-eyed husband at their wedding. NOT the new, weak, Courtney that cried when her husband said Zeke would be a man before we knew it.

A related side note: I'm working on telling Zeke I love him at least as often as I say "You're driving me nutters". He'll probably figure out my strange and maybe slightly unhealthy way of showing affection, after all, Josh has told me that every time I tell him "I will kill you" he just thinks of it as "I love you". Also, Zeke already gets his very biggest smiles when I call him naughty and spoiled. But still, maybe I should try to lessen the psychiatric bills...

Anyways, I cant believe how big he is getting. Or the fact that I will probably have to buy new pants soon...again. His legs are so long, its ridiculous trying to find anything that will fit him. Good thing I prefer his pants a good inch or two below his belly-button (yes, I am a child of the 90's) because if I put them any higher most would be well above his ankles. And dont get me started on his footsie pajamas. A couple of them also had to be put away because the poor child couldnt straighten his legs anymore. I might just cut off the feet...

Sorry I never did post those pictures, I totally forgot about it. My brain is gone these last few days, it was taken over by extreme hormones at some point. It seems like all I've done is swing erratically from one side of the emotional spectrum to the other lately. Poor Josh.

Anyways news.... hmmm. Well I made a bunch of baby food. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. And Zeke LOVES sweet potatoes. And I mean LOVES. He gobbles up 4 ounces in about 2 seconds flat and would still probably eat more if I let him. And 4 ounces may not sound like a lot, but it is. At least I think it is, lol, I guess I have no idea what an almost 5 month old is supposed to eat in a sitting. How much are one of those little jars? Whatever. It's more than he's willing to eat of anything else, he tends to lose interest after a while and decides he'd rather nurse instead.

We also had Grandpa Keith and Grandma Tammy visit. That was a lot of fun. Also Zeke got a card and money in the mail so pretty soon we are going to go buy some new toys...I am more excited then he is I think but that's pretty much to be expected.

Zeke says dadadadadadada ALL day now. But of course only when its just the family. He wont do it in front of people.

That's pretty much it. Pictures!

Halloween! This was Zeke's "warm" pea-pod outfit. He also had a skeleton onesie. I have more pictures but for some reason blogger wont accept them.

Here is Zeke and his freind Jordyn. We watched her a couple days this week. Ezekiel really enjoyed the company. Maybe he wants a sister?

This isn't even posed. They really did stare at each other like that for about 15 minutes. They were cracking me up. Then of course they started grabbing each other's faces so I had to move them a bit farther apart.

Zeke's first baby Mohawk! I cant believe it took me this long! It's pretty adorable.

Just Zeke being his cute self for Tammy. I love his little mouth in the first one!

Zeke said "dada" this morning!! In fact daddy got so excited that Zeke said it 6 or 7 times after that to make him do it again!! And he's only 4 months, 3 weeks, and a day! Haha, I had to look it up on my myspace ticker.

I cant actually stay on forever but I wanted to let the world know. Tomorrow I'll get back on and put up some pictures and a video of Zeke eating avocado, its pretty funny, he didn't known quite what to think.

"The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life". ~Robert Louis Stevenson